The world has become a global society. People no longer simply conduct business locally, regionally, or even nationally. Today, people routinely travel and conduct business internationally. It is not uncommon for businesspeople to call many different countries and time zones throughout the business day. Similar calling situations occur for individuals if calling friends or relatives who live overseas or in different parts of the country. Because calling around the world can become a regular event for people, people often lose track of time in the time zones to which they are calling. While global society has become more of a 24/7 operation, receiving telephone calls in the middle of the night are generally unwelcomed.
In addition to people not paying attention to time zones of called parties, people are generally unaware of holidays in countries around the world. Each country has certain national holidays that “excuse” businesses to shut down for those days. For example, in Brazil, Carnaval is considered a national holiday and most businesses are closed on that date. In the United States, most businesses are closed on Labor Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day. Callers to Brazil and the United States are generally unaware of the particular days on which these holidays fall. Telephone calls to people in those and other countries on holidays are often surprised and confused when the calls are not answered.
A situation that is more difficult to track by callers about regions around the world are emergency situations that may affect individuals, businesses, and communication services. For example, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, thunderstorms, blizzards, and power outages may cause businesses and telecommunications to be affected. A caller to a friend or business in a region that is being affected by a natural or manmade emergency situation may not be able to reach the friend or business. Unless the caller can reach someone else in the region or access information about the region via the Internet or news source, the caller is unable to determine why he or she cannot reach the called party.